


depth/distance

by kalachuchi



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Restaurants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 21:19:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15033539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalachuchi/pseuds/kalachuchi
Summary: Just a meal between friends.





	depth/distance

**Author's Note:**

> truly i have no excuse or justification for this. i just think xukun + zhengting + jun are all neat, and thusly shoved them together. 
> 
> i know i tagged this as " / " but it's closer to " & " however there is literally nobody to nitpick me over this i don't believe? and oh! notes at the end if you don't know who jun is.

Xukun only really meets Junhui because of Zhengting. But, as Xukun will later confide in Yanjun – for full disclosure, since discord never does anyone any good, internally or externally – Zhengting only organised an outing in the first place because Xukun told him _You don’t need to, honestly._ Unfazed, Zhengting had declared _Well! I suppose it’s my responsibility to now, Kunkun._ So Zhengting did.

Now here they are, at a restaurant in a hotel that isn’t Xukun and Zhengting’s, waiting to be seated. 

“I won’t be paying,” Zhengting volunteers. “Kunkun shouldn’t either – Wenhan’s warned me about you, Junhui.” Draped smugly around Junhui’s shoulders, Zhengting reminds Xukun of a particularly decorative cape. Or perhaps a limpet. 

“ _Zhengting_ ,” Xukun hisses. 

Junhui doesn’t seem offended, though, instead tapping lightly at Zhengting’s fingers. His mouth is covered by a face mask, but his eyes curve upwards, as if he’s smiling.

“That’s fair,” Junhui allows. “I probably eat more now than I did when Wenhan treated me.”

Zhengting hums, _uh-huh_ , and Xukun swats at him.

“You don’t need to do that, we should split the bill, really–”

Laughing, Junhui says, “I’ll pay. Think of it as gē’s treat, Kunkun.”

_Kunkun._ Xukun blinks. Zhengting crows laughter until he realises what Junhui implied.

“I’m older than you,” Zhengting said, narrowing his eyes. Junhui just pats Zhengting’s fingers again, and doesn’t argue. “We are all in the spring of youth,” Junhui agrees. It’s autumn outside, and the wind grows colder every night. Xukun hasn’t thought about flowers beyond the bouquets delivered to their schedules, their accomodation.

“ – Table for three?”

Raising his arm, Junhui says, “Yes, that’s us! Thank you.”

And that’s that.

 

 

“It’s ridiculous, looking back on things,” Zhengting is saying, “that we haven’t seen you at all until now.” Stabbing a dumpling with his chopsticks instead of picking it up, Zhengting points dumpling and chopsticks both at Junhui, waving them around in the air. 

Junhui grins. “It’s okay, I’ll send you pictures of me later. So you won’t ever miss me.”

“ _Ugh!_ Xukun, listen, are you listening, the _mouth_ on this kid…”

Under the mask, Junhui doesn’t wear any makeup. He throws his head back when he laughs, different from the easy charm of his press photos, or uploads on SNS. Not that Xukun doesn’t already know this. He knows Junhui, somewhat – Junhui is in at least three WeChat groups in Xukun’s social periphery, and even more that Xukun’s aware of but declined joining. 

“Schedules are picking up, recently,” Xukun says. 

More accurately, Nine Percent’s schedules have yet to slow down. Xukun doesn’t offer this information, though it must seem terribly obvious. To his credit, Zhengting doesn’t either.

“Yes,” Junhui says. “But it’s always nice to be home.”

A buzz on the table. Junhui’s phone. Picking it up, Junhui’s face lightens, voice considering.

“Oh, it’s Hao Hao – he doesn’t like to eat alone, you know? I’ll be back in a minute.”

Xukun doesn’t know this, but he doesn’t object and anyway, it isn’t as if Xukun has no idea. Everyone’s heard of everyone, in this industry. Like a pond, even if two of the lily pads are further from the rest, the weight of their bloom ripples outward, felt by everything above the water. 

“Yeah,” Zhengting adds. “Suppose Cheng Xiao’s already at the airport by now.”

Still, Xukun is not entirely sure how these two facts are related.

“…What.”

“We trained together, a bit. Or Cheng Xiao has. The point is, she’s familiar enough with that guy.”

It’s easier to be frank around Zhengting, because Zhengting acts as if bluntness is only to be expected.

“Alright, but. _What.”_

“Cai Xukun, don’t you know? You can’t undertake group schedules alone.”

“Group schedules, now you mention it.” Junhui’s back. “I watched you guys on Happy Camp the other day! Not your most recent one, I think, but you were all really good.” Then Junhui smiles, and pours everyone another round of tea, humming.

Zhengting beams. “Leave me alone, Hui Hui. I’m not _good_ – I’m exceedingly pretty, and reasonably charming. What the kids call a c _omplete package.”_

“So, just yourself,” Xukun supplies. Junhui snorts into his tea.

“You would really do this to me.” Zhengting sniffs. “I am warning you. Really, if Zhu Zhengting has red eyes tomorrow considering this slight to my person–”

Junhui reaches across the table to smooth back Zhengting’s hair. Then he says, “Face masks are very useful these days, you know?” and flicks Zhengting’s forehead.

Nobody’s more surprised by Xukun’s laugh than Xukun himself.

“Ah, is it always like this? Zhengting only acts like this when he isn’t winning.”

Junhui flicks Xukun’s forehead too. Deceptively gentle.

 

 

In the space between Zhengting ordering them dessert without asking if they wanted any, and said desserts arriving to the table, Xukun checks his messages. 

Ziyi has sent him a series of picture messages rather than actual texts, in part because Ziyi is a person who likes to let you know when he thinks about you, and in part because Xukun grew unintentionally spoiled by Ziyi’s steady stream of support that Ziyi must have noticed despite Xukun’s reluctance to reveal said reliance.

 

[WZY]: _(Picture of two cats, one beside a banana peel and the other looking impressively unimpressed.)_

[WZY]: _(Picture of Yanjun and Zhengting, Yanjun posing finger guns and Zhengting’s features blurry, in the middle of rolling his eyes.)_

 

[WZY]: _(Picture of three puppies, napping on in a pile together. A rose-tinted border has been edited in.)_

 

Linkai has sent him a message, too. All it reads is, _this is nongnong – Justin?!_

Xukun closes his messages. It seems vaguely biased to address one but not the other, so Xukun doesn’t reply to any of them. Across the table Junhui is cooing at what might also be pictures of animals, but could just as easily be the other Yuehua boys, considering he’s scrolling through Zhengting’s phone. Zhengting is looking on, chin steepled on top of his hands, eyes-half lidded and expression almost satisfied.

Almost.

Zhengting stands up as dessert reaches their table. Xukun hasn’t had fried ice cream in years. He isn’t sure he wants to break his streak now. Junhui is warily eyeing the chopped fruit scattered on top of one of the ice cream bowls.

Then Zhengting stands up and says, “Why!”

Xukun, Junhui and their server freeze. Zhengting has already recovered, however, and is smiling sunnily as he gestures the server to the table. “Fruits for my friend, please. Cai Xukun will have the plain one. Nobody even look at mine. I will be in the lavatory.”

“Oh my god,” Junhui says, softly. He’s prodding at a cube of cantaloupe with the tip of his spoon.

“Do you not like fruit?”

Junhui says, still in that soft, almost disbelieving tone, “Zhengting made them add fruit. He turned my ice cream _healthy.”_

“Fruits are good for you,” Xukun says. Immediately, Junhui scoops a spoonful of fruit and offers it to Xukun,expression terrifyingly earnest. Xukun is not equipped enough for interactions like these without the benefit of Zhengting or a camera.

Xukun says, “Junhui.” He doesn’t take the fruit.

“Cai Xukun,” Junhui explains solemnly, “I don’t even buy fruit that isn’t watermelon, and I only buy watermelon because Minghao and Sollie like them. I enjoy lemons only since nobody else does. Eat the fruit before everything melts, please.”

There’s only one reasonable response, here.

“You eat lemons?”

Junhui nods, pouting. “These aren’t lemons. So I don’t want to.”

“Doesn’t mean they aren’t good for you.” Xukun grasps Junhui’s wrist, redirecting the spoon into Junhui’s stunned mouth. Junhui mumbles, but begins chewing. Xukun bites down on a laugh. “Okay. Now, do we know where that Zhengting has gone?”

“Waiting for us to finish composing speeches,” Junhui says in between mouthfuls.

Xukun waits. Then he asks, “Speeches for what.”

“Speeches on how we’re really surprised he’s paying the bill instead of taking a crap, even if we’re not surprised at all. Then he will probably actually take a crap.”

Xukun rolls his eyes.

“I don’t want to,” Xukun says, mimicking Junhui’s earlier whine.

Junhui stares at him. Junhui’s bowl is already empty. Xukun’s is half-touched.

“Don’t, then,” is Junhui’s advice, shrugging. He beams when Xukun slides him the rest of his bowl.

“You must live very freely,” Xukun tells him, and means it sincerely. He hopes it sounds that way.

Junhui waggles his spoon at Xukun. “As free as anyone else! Come play next time too – I still have to treat you, remember? And I’m older, so you’re not supposed to argue.”

Xukun has not heard Junhui seriously play up age or seniority for their entire time together. Junhui is both similar and nothing like how he seems when anyone else mentions him. Xukun thinks Junhui wouldn’t mind Xukun playing along, might even laugh at Xukun’s imprecise slingshots toward lightheartedness. 

Still, he finds he doesn’t feel like arguing, so he doesn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> \- wen junhui, member of kpop boy group seventeen!  
> \- hao hao/minghao referenced is xu minghao, also member of seventeen  
> \- jun and minghao are now slowly getting china schedules, enabling this fic to somehow... plausibly.... happen.... within this timeframe. don't think so hard into it LOL
> 
>  
> 
> thank you for reading!


End file.
